Updated
TR-CIP
Citizenship by investment
The only major citizenship program where the investment comes back: you hold property worth $400,000 or more for three years, then sell it, and the passport stays for life. BRIDGES vets the property, runs the deal, the residence permit and the citizenship filing.
01 / About the program
Türkiye grants citizenship on an exceptional basis under Article 12/1-(b) of Citizenship Law No. 5901 and Article 20 of the implementing regulation. The program has run since January 2017 and remains the largest in the world: more than 35,000 foreign nationals obtained citizenship through it in its first six years.
A three-year no-sale annotation is placed on the title deed. Once it is lifted the property is yours to sell on the open market and recover the money, and citizenship is not revisited. No Caribbean program works this way: there the fund contribution is non-refundable.
Real estate from $400,000. From $500,000 each: a bank deposit, government debt instruments, units in a real estate or venture capital fund, a contribution to the private pension system, or fixed capital investment. A separate route is creating 50 jobs. Every monetary route has a three-year holding period.
Three independent figures must each reach $400,000: the price stated in the official deed, the value in a licensed appraiser report filed through the TADEBIS system, and the money actually transferred through a Turkish bank. If one of them falls short, the file is refused.
The spouse and minor children, adopted children included, join the same application and receive passports at the same time as the main applicant. No additional investment is required for them — only state fees and paperwork.
Türkiye has never closed the program to any country. Citizens of Russia, Belarus, Iran and China apply on general terms. What is examined is the background, sanctions status and a documented source of funds.
The purchase and the investment conformity certificate take a few weeks, then the residence permit is issued and the citizenship application is filed. The final decision is made by the President of Türkiye on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior.
02 / What you get
The money stays in your asset instead of going into a state budget. After three years the property can be sold; after five years the gain is free of capital gains tax. Only fees and transaction costs are genuinely sunk.
Türkiye is an E-2 treaty country: with a Turkish passport you can start or buy a business in the United States and apply for the investor visa. Citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have no access to this route on their own passport.
Since 15 July 2025 the European Commission cascade regime applies to Turkish citizens: after two visas properly used within three years, a one-year multi-entry visa is issued, then a three-year and a five-year one. There is no visa-free access.
The property works for all three years. Long-term rent in Istanbul yields roughly 5-7% a year, holiday rent in Antalya and Bodrum 3-5%. The income covers part of the running costs.
Türkiye is a G20 economy of about 85 million people, with direct flights worldwide, private healthcare and international schools. Istanbul is a working hub between Europe and Asia.
Türkiye does not require you to renounce your current passport. Check separately how your country of current citizenship treats a second nationality.
Preliminary assessment
Tell us who applies with you — the cost on this page recalculates instantly, and the full quote gives you the figures for your family, an honest assessment of your chances and a plan of action.
Who is applying for citizenship?
about 1 minuteno calls, no commitmentconfidential
03 / Why people apply
Türkiye is not a substitute for the Caribbean — it answers a different question. The Caribbean means a non-refundable contribution for visa-free Schengen. Türkiye means a refundable investment, a route into the United States through the E-2 treaty, and a country you can live in and run a business from.
A Caribbean fund contribution is $200,000-250,000 with no way back. In Türkiye the same money stays your asset and the property is sold after three years. Only fees and transaction costs are gone for good.
The E-2 treaty lets a business owner live and work in the United States with the family: the spouse gets work authorisation, children attend American schools. On a Russian, Kazakh or Uzbek passport this route is closed; on a Turkish one it is open.
Unlike a fund contribution or a fund unit, real estate stays under your control: you pick the property, rent it out and decide when to sell once the annotation is lifted.
The spouse and children under 18 join the application with no extra investment. In our practice: a family with adopted children who joined the file on the same terms as the biological ones.
A second passport widens the list of banks and jurisdictions willing to consider you. It does not remove any checks and does not hide your first citizenship — every nationality is disclosed to the bank.
People register companies on a Turkish passport, open corporate accounts and flag vessels. The customs union with the EU and Istanbul logistics make the jurisdiction a working one, not just a passport.
04 / Applicants
The application covers the investor, the spouse and children under 18 — they receive passports at the same time. Parents and adult children cannot be added: each of them needs a separate application with their own investment. Open a row to see the conditions for that category.
05 / Cost
The headline figure is the investment — and it comes back. Below it is the all-in total with duties, the residence permit and paperwork, and a separate line for what is genuinely sunk. Every figure recalculates for the family you set above.
Real estate · refundable
from$400,000
Investment · 1 person in the application
All-in with fees from $427,310
$400,000 refunded after 3 years - effectively from $27,310
The spouse and children under 18 join the application with no additional investment: only fees and paperwork are added for each of them. The property stays your asset: you can rent it out for all three years and sell it once the annotation is lifted.
Bank deposit · refundable
from$500,000
Investment · 1 person in the application
All-in with fees from $501,660
$500,000 refunded after 3 years - effectively from $1,660
Family size does not change the deposit: only fees and paperwork are added for the spouse and children under 18. Sunk costs are lower, but $100,000 more is locked up, and interest accrues in lira and carries currency risk.
A preliminary calculation at current tariffs. Besides real estate and a deposit, the law allows five more routes — government debt instruments, units in a real estate or venture capital fund, a private pension contribution and fixed capital investment (each from $500,000), plus creating 50 jobs. Duties and fees are denominated in lira and confirmed on the transaction date; the agency commission depends on the property. The BRIDGES fee is not included and is agreed separately. This is not a decision of any state authority: the outcome depends on the property, your nationality, the source of funds and document checks.
06 / Comparison
The key difference is the format of the investment: in Türkiye the money stays your asset, while in Caribbean programs the contribution goes into a fund and never comes back. A full comparison of every program sits on a separate page.
| Türkiye | Vanuatu | St Kitts and Nevis | Grenada | Antigua and Barbuda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry threshold | $400,000 | $130,000 | $250,000 | $235,000 | $230,000 |
| Investment format | Real estate | Fund contribution | Fund contribution | Fund contribution | Fund contribution |
| Principal refunded | Yes, sale after 3 years | No | No | No | No |
| Processing time | 6-12 months | 30-60 days | from 4 months | from 8 months | from 6 months |
| Visa-free Schengen | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| E-2 treaty with the USA | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Children over 18 in the file | No | Up to 25 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Amounts are the minimum thresholds for a single applicant, excluding fees. Timelines reflect program practice as of the page update date.
Full program comparison →08 / Full cycle
Normally the client assembles this chain alone: an agent shows the property, a lawyer checks the papers, an immigration consultant files the application — and after the purchase the owner is left with the apartment on their own. With us all six steps run in one pair of hands under one contract.
We calculate the program threshold and shortlist properties that meet it. We also show the ones that do not qualify — and explain why.
Developer, permits, title, encumbrances. Contract, secure settlement and registration in your name — you know every risk before any deposit.
We compile the file, evidence income and source of funds, run the application with the authority and answer their queries until a decision.
Handover and keys, utilities, insurance, maintenance and control of recurring payments — while you live in another country.
Preparation, finding a tenant, the lease and payment control. The asset works instead of waiting for your visit.
We handle renewals and the owner’s duties, and when you decide to sell — we prepare the property and run the transaction. The status is retained under the program rules.
One client. One property. One accountable team.
The scope of services, limits of responsibility and fees are set by a separate contract and depend on the country and the property.
09 / How it works
We go through your situation: goals, family, source of funds, documents in hand. The preliminary check happens before any work starts, so that refusal risk is visible in advance rather than after money has gone into a deal.
We check the title, encumbrances, the building permit and the history of the property: whether it has already been used for citizenship, who sold it and when. We order the appraisal report through the TADEBIS system — it is valid for three months.
The currency is sold to a Turkish bank, the bank issues the DAB certificate quoting the property, and the seller is paid in lira. Cash and direct crypto settlement are excluded. The official deed is signed at the land registry and a three-year no-sale annotation is placed on the title.
We prepare the file for the state authority and obtain the document confirming that the investment meets the program requirements. Three figures — the deed price, the appraisal and the actual payments — must each reach $400,000.
We obtain the investor residence permit for the applicant and the family — a mandatory intermediate step. Then we file with the citizenship directorate: translations, notarisation, apostilles, civil documents. We track the status and respond to further requests.
After the decision we arrange the national ID card and the 10-year passport. After three years the annotation is lifted: we help sell the property and recover the money, and after five years of ownership the gain is free of capital gains tax.
10 / Travel
Destinations fall into four entry regimes. We do not publish a total number of visa-free countries: the lists change, and a figure without a verification date is misleading. We prepare the current list on the date of your enquiry.
Entry on the passport with nothing arranged in advance. Most of these destinations are Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Latin America, the Balkans, North Africa and the Gulf states.
Entry after an eVisa or electronic travel authorisation is obtained online, usually a few days before the trip.
The permit is issued at the airport or at the border. Passport validity and supporting document requirements are set by the receiving country.
The European Union and Schengen, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Australia require a visa obtained before travel. For Schengen the cascade regime applies: a one-year, then a three-year, then a five-year multi-entry visa.
Basis: European Commission implementing decision of 15 July 2025 introducing the visa cascade for Turkish citizens who apply in Türkiye and have an established travel history; issuance remains at the discretion of the individual consulate. Turkish citizens have no visa-free access to Schengen. Entry rules are set by the receiving states and may change at any time.
The program has run since 2017 and remains the largest in the world: more than 35,000 foreign nationals have obtained citizenship.
Calculate the cost11 / Our role
We have worked since 2004 and more than 8,000 families have come through us. Türkiye is one of our core destinations: we have our own lawyers and partners in Istanbul, Antalya and Ankara.
Most Turkish refusals are not about the applicant but about the property: it has already been used for citizenship, the seller is the wrong party, the appraisal came in below the price, or a share was bought instead of the whole unit. We check the title and the seller before any deposit is paid.
The deal, the residence permit and the filing are handled by our team in Türkiye, not by a chain of subcontractors. You do not have to travel: we work under a power of attorney executed before a notary with a sworn translator.
We run a preliminary check before any work begins. If we see material refusal risk we say so directly and propose an alternative. We do not take on cases we are not confident in.
With Türkiye the work does not end with the passport: three years of ownership and a sale lie ahead. We help rent the property out, lift the annotation, find a buyer and run the sale through to the return of your funds.
12 / Team
A Türkiye file is not handled by a salesperson but by a standing team: the program lawyer, a compliance specialist and a family coordinator. You know everyone by name from day one.
Andres FerreiraHead of Investment AdvisoryProgram strategy and complex cases
Nikos PappasBanking Relations SpecialistLegal handling of the file, documents and compliance
Klara RihterHead of Compliance and Due DiligenceTax questions and residency after the passport
Elena TitovaClient Relationship ManagerFamily coordination and contact at every stage15 / Materials
During the engagement you receive a pack of professional materials prepared by our team. They cover the program, the costs, the documents, the stages and what becomes possible after citizenship.
Main materialPresentation
The deck covers the essentials: requirements, amounts, family members, documents and how the process runs.
Inside:
PDF · free · current as of August 2026
A short check: who passes screening, which nationalities are restricted and what due diligence looks at.
The list of documents for the applicant and every family member, with notes on translation, notarisation and apostille.
We calculate the full estimate for your family: contribution, government fees, due diligence and our work.
All materials are kept up to date by our team and are used when supporting BRIDGES clients.
16 / News
The European Commission introduced the visa cascade for Turkish citizens: after two visas properly used within three years, a one-year multi-entry Schengen visa is issued, then a three-year and a five-year one. Visa-free travel was not introduced.
The Turkish Land Registry updated its guidance on citizenship-related transactions: an appraisal report is valid for three months, a second-hand property must not have passed from a foreign owner to a Turkish one in the last three years, and any given property can be used for citizenship only once.
The real estate threshold rose from $250,000 to $400,000. The thresholds for the other routes stayed at $500,000 and have not changed since.
Worth having
The short document we give clients before the start: requirements for the property and the seller, the full cost structure, stages and timelines — as one list, with no filler.
Inside the document
We will send it after a short form - no call or obligation.
17 / Questions
Yes. You buy the property outright and a three-year no-sale annotation goes on the title. Once it is lifted the property is sold on the open market and citizenship is not revisited. The refund is the sale of a real asset, so the property has to be chosen with resale in mind — which is exactly what we do when selecting it.
The law allows seven. Real estate from $400,000. From $500,000 each: a deposit with a Turkish bank, government debt instruments, units in a real estate or venture capital fund, a contribution to the private pension system, and fixed capital investment. A separate route is creating 50 jobs, which private clients almost never use. Every monetary route has a three-year holding period.
No. Since 15 July 2025 the European Commission cascade regime applies: after two visas properly used within three years, a one-year multi-entry visa is issued, then a three-year and a five-year one. You still apply for the visa and still observe the 90 days in 180 rule. If free movement in Europe is the immediate priority, we will honestly suggest a Caribbean program.
E-2 is a United States investor visa: the owner of a US business lives and works there with the family and the spouse gets work authorisation. It is open only to nationals of treaty countries. Türkiye is on that list; Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are not. The Turkish passport opens the route, but the visa itself is granted by the USA in a separate procedure.
Yes. Türkiye has introduced no nationality restrictions. What is examined is the background, sanctions status and a documented source of funds — that is precisely what the preliminary check looks at.
The threshold is set in dollars, and the three figures — deed price, appraisal and payments — are converted at the central bank rate. Practically the whole market for foreign buyers operates in dollars and euros, so the lira does not move the threshold itself. What does depend on the lira is deposit interest and domestic taxation.
Yes, the combined value of several properties can reach the required $400,000. A share in a property, however, does not qualify: if several foreigners buy one property into co-ownership it cannot be used for citizenship. A whole property bought by one foreigner from several owners does qualify.
A property cannot be used if it has already served as the basis for someone else’s citizenship — that disqualifies it permanently. A second-hand property does not qualify if it passed to a Turkish owner from a foreigner, or from someone who obtained citizenship under this program, within the last three years. You cannot buy from your spouse or close relatives, from your own company or from a relative’s company. The history has to be checked before the deposit: sellers do not usually volunteer it.
No. The currency is sold to a Turkish bank for the central bank, the bank issues a DAB certificate quoting the property, and the seller receives lira. VAT, commissions and duties must not be included in the certified amount — only the price of the property. If the capital is in crypto, we will work through a lawful structure for exiting and evidencing the source of funds during the consultation: we have handled such cases.
No. Only the spouse and children under 18 join the application. An adult child files separately and makes their own investment — for real estate that means another $400,000 in a separate property. The calculator on this page does not cover such files: we quote them separately.
There is no residence requirement. The investor residence permit, however, is mandatory before the citizenship application is filed, and both the applicant and the family members obtain it. You still do not have to travel: we work under a power of attorney.
The no-sale annotation is lifted after three years, and from that point the property can be sold. Capital gains tax stops applying to an individual after five years of ownership. A sale between the third and the fifth year is taxed on a progressive scale with indexation relief. These are two different dates, and we separate them in advance when planning the exit.
Male Turkish citizens are liable for military service, but those who acquire citizenship as adults and live outside the country can use deferral and paid exemption. We go through the position of any minor sons separately at the consultation — it is one of the questions we raise ourselves, before the engagement is signed.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.
